Enter Dread Masters
by DreadMasterStyrak
Summary: Rammas gets knocked out by the Force blast of a Phobis Device. Dread Masters Styrak and Brontes return to Dromund Kaas to investigate it and to retrieve the device.


**Rammas survives her unfortunate encounter with a Sith artifact known as the Phobis Core.**

 **The Dread Masters sense a surge from one of their Phobis Devices and Dread Masters Styrak and Brontes set out to investigate and bring the Device back to Oricon where it belonged.**

* * *

At last, Rammas simply collapsed into the mud face first, the perpetual rainfall so cold against her feverish skin. She was running as fast as she could, fleeing from someone, or something, with no idea of where she was heading, as everything was covered in haze of incoherent color, and all directions seemed the same. The only certain thing here was the terror.

All her fears, pulled right out of her soul one by one, and made true.

Chasms opening under her feet, ghostly clawed hands reaching out and then merging into the smoky form of a tall white-haired Cathar with wicked, snarling face, chasing after her, rakghouls jumping at her...

At some point, it became painfully clear that there was nothing left for her or inside her. There was only terror. She was the terror. And in that moment, the illusion and fear disappeared, and the Pureblood was back to the real world, collapsing among the rubble.

* * *

Some time later.

A tall, if not gigantic, man walked over the rubble, followed by an escort of two guards. All three of them were dressed in similar ornamented robes and had crested masks hiding their faces. The leader had a menacing presence about him, and forest animals scurried away at his approach.

Styrak stepped over an overturned piece of debris, scanning the area, while his guards wandered around the place, looking for clues.

The place was a complete mess: an underground chamber collapsed creating several holes in the ground, with mud and debris everywhere, together with dead bodies of what looked like a group of Sith and Imperials. None of them bore any wounds. All of them were dead.

It wouldn't be much of a concern for him and his brethren if that was any other chamber, but this one happened to house one of the Phobis devices, and the Dread Masters had all reasons to suspect damage. On top of that, some of them reported to feel the device powering up as if reacting to something. But, what? Or who?

Styrak climbed a large chunk of wall? Ceiling? And took a look around, scanning the ruin for signs of life and for a way to get to the Phobis device without collapsing the rest of the chamber. He spotted a suitable path and headed down, each step calculated.

The Dread Guards have completed their survey of the place and now were standing watch around the cave-in.

Something nearly caused Styrak to trip over. He looked down and, to his surprise, saw someone lying at his feet. He kneeled and turned the body over. A small, runty looking female Sith Pureblood. Her robes were torn and dirty, hair black with light streaks, but it was so matted with dust that it was hard to tell, and her orange skin was covered with scratches. She was so tiny that she could be easily mistaken for a child.

From a weak groan Styrak understood that she was alive. Which was a surprise, given the location and the Phobis Device.

The Dread Master was examining the Pureblood, thinking and analyzing. When she stirred again, shivering and murmuring something in a small scared voice, Styrak felt a surge in the Force, not unlike his own when he used his Dread Master power.

His eyes went wide beneath the mask: this definitely was unexpected. Whoever this little Pureblood was, she survived an encounter with the Device. This certainly was getting interesting, Styrak thought, considering all the possibilities. A seventh could fortify their union greatly.

Given that she survives longer and proved that her mind isn't shattered in a thousand pieces.

The Dread Master scooped the Pureblood off the rubble effortlessly, noting how light she was, and made his way back to the Dread Guards. There he passed the girl to one of them and ordered to take her to the ship and tend to her injuries.

Styrak himself had another business to take care of: the Phobis Core, still somewhere in the rubble.

Maybe he could call Brontes for that. Dread Master Brontes was more familiar with the Devices.

Yes, he thought, I definitely should do that. Styrak didn't trust himself on this matter. Not with the treacherous debris and his clumsy streak a parsec wide...

Brontes answered his mental call soon, gliding over the ruin silently. Styrak sometimes envied her talent for levitation. She stopped by Styrak's side, nodding to him. Then she descended to the bottom of the pit, where a sinister presence coiled.

Soon after, a ship left Dromund Kaas, and an aura of fear lifted off the outskirts of Kaas city as Dread Masters Styrak and Brontes left the planet with the last Phobis Device and a little trespasser.


End file.
